Do
you enjoy horror movies as much as I do? I mean films that chill you to
the bone and shock your system? Then you'll love the new HBO's documentary
Hard Times at Douglass High: A No Child Left Behind Report Card,
the story of Frederick Douglas High School's class of '05.

If
you caught season 4 of The Wire (set in a Baltimore inner city
school) you'll find much of this territory familiar. If anything, the
show painted a rosier picture than the reality, most probably because
the truth would have seemed too implausible.

At
times you may want to reach through the screen and hug these teachers
and student advisors for their perseverance and courage - but you'll want
to rail against others who enable failure, teaching kids to grasp for
creative excuses to hang their failures on.

Those
few students that made their way in triumph through this boiling labyrinth
are to be greatly admired.

I guess I can't say too much about this production; Baltimore's inner
city is so far removed from my experience, years of living on the east
side of LA aside. The end of the picture brings no resolution, as if one
were to be expected, only new questions and a yearning for a follow-up.

The
No Child Left Behind Act was created to boost academic levels of American
schoolchildren by setting standardized goals across the nation –
and holding states, districts and schools accountable for performance.
For urban schools in high-poverty areas, reaching these goals has proven
to be a daunting task, and many now face the real possibility of being
taken over by the state – or being shut down altogether.

Produced
and directed by Oscar-winners Alan and Susan Raymond, Hard Times at Douglass
High: A No Child Left Behind Report Card reveals troubles and triumphs
in the classrooms, hallways and offices of Frederick Douglass High School
in Baltimore, MD – from the celebrations of drum lines and debate
teams to the worries of faculty who know that 50% of their freshman will
not return for their sophomore year. This immersive documentary cautions
that education is inevitably an achievement of people, not policy.

Check
out sneak peek clips of “Hard Times at Douglass High: A No Child
Left Behind Report Card” on Dailymotion.

Hard
Times at Douglass High: A No Child Left Behind Report Card premieres
this Monday, June 23 at 9 p.m. – only on HBO.